Encouraging sex in Singapore

City-state with low birthrate loosens up

SINGAPORE — It's past 4 a.m., and the music is throbbing at the Attica nightclub as Wei Siang Yu works the still-surging singles crowd like a celebrity.

Drinks in hand, patrons lean in close, shouting into his ear over the booming bass. Most just want to say hello, but a few seek something else: sex tips.

The doctor is in the house.

From taxi drivers to tax accountants, residents in this conservative city-state seek out Wei for advice. With "Doctor Love," they know they'll get good counsel--without moral judgment.

"This city is still very repressed when it comes to open talk about sex," he said.

A kind of Larry Flynt-meets-Dr. Ruth, the 37-year-old physician presides over an Eros empire that includes a late-night sex-advice TV show, holiday "love packages," sex-strategy books and a drop-in advice center known as the Playroom. In October, he launched Singapore's first adult magazine.

Wei embodies the sexual revolution now sweeping Singapore. In this tightly controlled island nation of more than 4 million people where Playboy magazine is forbidden, the government is loosening long-standing restrictions on adult-themed entertainment to allow frank public talk about once taboo subjects.

The reason: Singaporeans aren't having enough babies.

With Asia's lowest fertility rate outside Hong Kong, in 2004 Singapore saw 35,500 births, far below the 50,000 needed to replenish the population. It was the 28th straight year the birthrate fell below the population "replacement rate," experts say.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sounded the alarm last summer, warning that Singapore would have to produce more babies or welcome more migrants to sustain economic growth and living standards.

Officials have unveiled a $185million effort to encourage babymaking, including cash perks, child-care subsidies, tax rebates for working moms and longer maternity leave.

In this hyperexpensive city, many young workers still live at home. Others are deferring marriage in favor of career and lifestyle. Those who do have children stop at two because of the high costs involved.

"This society is a pressure cooker," said Singaporean sociologist Angelique Chan. "You've got to keep performing on the job or you're going to be left behind. People feel so overworked and stressed out. . . . Singaporeans just don't have enough sex."

Carmen Leow is typical of many residents.

"I work 10 hours a day, and when I get home and my boyfriend even mentions sex, I just sort of recoil," said the 20-year-old bartender. "A relationship in this city is like a second job. You just get so tired out." Although she plans to marry next year, Leow said, "we're not having kids for at least 10 years."

To counteract this paucity of sexual interest, the government has loosened its tie. Singapore now has a bar with topless dancers and recently sponsored its first sex exposition featuring bedroom aids and sex therapy.